Due to Megalyn Echikunwoke previous committments to an upcoming Showtime drama starring Jamie Foxxx, she was
unavailable to reprise her role as Mari McCabe aka Vixen for season 2 of
DC's Legends of Tomorrow (although she's still voicing the character for
season 2 of the animated CW Seed series).
This forced the show's executive producers to change their original plans but they developed a pretty interesting alternative centered around the fact that the Tantu Totem is a mystical African artifact (which bestows its weilder with various physical abilities from the animal kingdom) that's passed down from generation to generation.
Enter Amaya Jiwe, Mari's grandmother and the previous owner of the Vixen persona. She'll be played Maisie Richardson -Sellers. Check out some new concept art below that was shared by the show's executive producer, Marc Guggenheim.